The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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The rays are grouped in sets of two. Each set is confined
to a 90-degree arc: forward, rear, left and right. The first
ray that the Animus Operative fires at a target defines its
orientation for that round. The rays are as follows:
Forward Arc
Confusion: The target must succeed on a Will saving
throw or be affected as though by the spell. The Animus
Operative uses this ray to get groups of adversaries used
to their members behaving unpredictably, so that when
one of them is possessed by a stored soul, their erratic
behaviour can be blamed on lingering confusion.
Disintegration: The target must succeed on a Fortitude
saving throw or be affected as though by this spell.
The Operative uses the ray on opponents it believes
would be useless, or at least non-optimal, as possession
candidates.
Rear Arc
Dispel Magic: The Animus Operative uses this ray
to remove a target’s magical defences, in particular
protection from evil, which would prevent the souls it
carries from being able to possess a target.
Enervation: A creature struck by this ray is affected
by enervation as per the spell. Every negative level
bestowed on the target creature grants five temporary
hit points to the Animus Operative. It uses this ray to
repair itself and to weaken potential victims before soul
transfer.
Left Arc
Exhaustion: The target of this ray must succeed on a
Fortitude saving throw or become exhausted. Creatures
that succeed on their saving throws are merely fatigued.
The Operative employs this ray to prevent victims from
running away.
Hold Person: A creature hit by this ray must make a
Will saving throw or be affected as if by the spell. The
Operative uses this ray to paralyse targets prior to a
possession attempt.
Right Arc
Repulsion: A creature struck by the repulsion ray must
make a Will saving throw or be affected as if it had
entered the field of a repulsion spell. The Operative
uses this ray to keep dangerous opponents at range so
that it can bring its more deadly rays to bear against
them.
Feeblemind: A creature struck by the feeblemind
ray must make a Will saving throw or have its mind
enfeebled as if by the spell. The Operative reserves the
use of this ray for spellcasters whom it wants to strip of
their abilities or possession targets whose Will saving
throw modifiers it wants to obliterate. A feebleminded
character whose soul is transferred into a storage stone
remains feebleminded while he is in there.
Shocking Tendrils (Su): The creature’s tentacles deal
3d6 points of electrical damage with a successful hit. In
addition, the target must make a Fortitude saving throw
(DC 22) or be stunned for one round. The save DC is
Charisma-based.
Soul Transfusion: The Animus Operative is designed
to hold five soul storage eggs, which function in the
same way that a magic jar does (see below). When the
Animus Operative comes within range of a potential
target (the range for these souls is 130 feet), the first
Myrrik wizard soul within the eggs can attempt to
possess a victim, forcing its soul into the receptacles
(see the magic jar spell for more details). Souls stored
inside the Animus Operative act on the Operative’s
initiative count.
The souls inside these eggs have an additional advantage.
They can see and hear what the Animus Operative itself
sees and hears, so they can choose which targets they
would prefer to occupy. They cannot, however, use its
Spot and Listen skills actively, nor do they use their
own ability score modifiers. They simply have the
information relayed to them.
One of the souls is ‘first in line’ and this one can
communicate with the Operative and give it instructions,
such as ‘destroy the big one with the axe, but paralyse
the one with the spellbook’. Once that soul has left
its egg, another one is freed to communicate with the
Operative. Only the soul that is first in line can attempt
to possess a target. The souls in the other eggs must
wait until it has left before the next of them can make an
attempt. If the soul that is first in line fails to possess any
of the available targets, it cannot step out of sequence
and let another soul try.
Typical Myrrik Wizard Souls, Myrrik Wiz13: CR
13; Medium undead (incorporeal); HD 13d4; hp 32; Init
+0; Spd 0 ft; AC n/a; Base Atk +6; Grp —; Atk —; Full
Atk –; AL LE; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +9; Str —, Dex
—, Con —, Int 20, Wis 12, Cha 17.
Skills & Feats: Bluff +11, Concentration +16, Decipher
Script +13, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knowledge
(geography) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Search
+10, Spellcraft +15, Swim +8; Combat Casting, Craft
Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, Enlarge Spell, Quicken
Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Spell
Mastery (magic jar).
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8